A Mid November's Paddle

JB of altitude Paddleboards and I ascended in altitude up the narrow mountain road, a chill started to bite. Ice covered a small lake that we quickly passed by. I knew the flow would be low but it never occurred to me that parts of the river could be frozen. I also knew that we still had over a thousand feet to drop again before we would make it to the river. So the air should warm up a bit more. We were running the class 5 section of Waterton Canyon but I think at this flow it would be more of a 3.

Along side of the South Fork of on the Platte the flow was low, 43 cfs I think. Boneyard the whole way to the confluence. I hardly recognized it. The other 200+ of water was running out of the North Fork. Combined the flow would be good enough for the Waterton section!

We parked the car and started to get our gear ready. I unstrapped my Rogue Tesoro That i could hardly wait to get on the water! I went with a really short fin just to be safe. Once we got on the water i could almost feel the icy chill through my board! it was cold and many of the boulders in the water were covered in ice.

The first part of the run was pretty easy. JB and I found a few good spots to practice eddying out, ferrying. He showed me a few good things he learned from Charlie Mccaurthers whitewater class. I still gotta work on those!

There were a few technical sections coming up! There was a section where river left was blocked of by a tree so you had to shoot right and take a small drop through two rocks. This was my favorite part of the run for sure! With a bit more flow this would have been a good place to get pinned for sure. The sections after that were full of rocks you had to navigate through! We walked back up for a second run at those sections!

After hiking our boards back to the car we drove up the North Fork to scope out some drops! We found a few good ones but the flow was a little low. We are waiting to hit those in spring!!!

SUP: Whole New Level

SUP: Whole New Level

SUP rail jam!

Earlier that day I was at a SUP meet up at a lake close to my house. Mark(a KM Rep), John (a pro climber), and I (Rogue rep and rider) were talking about grinding rails on our SUPs. An idea that was keeping me up at night. I found out that John had also thought about doing this. It was clear to me that unless we did this I wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about it.
Fifty bucks and a short car ride later we arrived at the river spot we all decided to go to. I thought it would be best to drop the rail in the water behind a rapid. That way we would have enough speed to finish the whole rail. I wasted no time, as I was positioning the rail behind the rapid the current swept it away. I thought it would float but it quickly sank to the bottom.
We looked everywhere for the rail. It was nowhere to be found. I didn’t get how we could lose such a big rail in water that was no deeper than 10ft at the deepest point. With the sun going down and team moral at a low Mark gave it a few last free dives. To my amazement he came up with the rail!
We still had a little over an hour before the sun would go down so we decided to place the rail in the shallows and use some man power to get the speed we needed. After the a few attempts and some funny falls and some epic slides we accomplished what we had worked all day for! SUP Rail Sessions!

Paddlefest in BV

In high flow or low flow Buena Vistas water park is a good time. The waves are surf able and locals are friendly. Paddlefest bring out all the professionals from kayakers to SUPers. It is great to see everyone in one spot and able to enjoy and share the waves and water.

The Upriver/Downriver SUP race was unlike any river event I have been to or competed in. Very fun and took river skill to maneuver up the river current. I cannot wait to go back and surf at better flows!!!

The Golden Games

This event had a really good vibe. As always all the competitors were really friendly. This event is held in Golden Colorado in Clear Creek. This Is one of the best play boating parks in the Denver area. The event was held as a time trial. All competitors had two runs and the best I the two counted! I held down first place and was stoked to be part of such a great event!

Clear Creek

A great place to train and learn to white water SUP it at the clear creek white water park. It stays pretty shallow in most sections. So run it in pads so you don't tear your shins up! This spot is one of my favorite places to teach new river SUPers as well as to practice eddy turns and other river maneuvers that are helpful during a river event.

What is river surfing?

River surfing is surfing on a river. There are two different kinds of river waves. A standing wave. Caused by a sudden increase in river depth. And a tidal bore. Caused by an ocean swell being forced into a river mouth.
Regardless of what kind of river surfing you are doing it is most important to make sure you have the right gear to keep you safe. Have fun and see you on the river!